The One with the Haunted Trash Chute
by crazysockmonkeys
Summary: Mulder and Scully investigate deaths related to a New York City apartment building's trash chute.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: I started watching Friends a couple of weeks ago and I love writing X-Files crossovers...so here we are! This story takes place in early season three of Friends and no real specified season for X-Files. Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

Chandler just happened to glance down at his watch just as it ticked from 4:59 PM to 5:00, which meant that that the day had just gone from a lazy Saturday afternoon to a hopeless and pathetic Saturday night on which he had no plans. At least Joey didn't have any either. Chandler watched as Joey leaned back farther and farther in his cushy black chair, trying guzzle out the last few drops of his beer. When the green glass bottle was finally empty, his head was a foot and a half from the ground. "Nice," Chandler said flatly.

"Thank you," Joey replied, springing up onto his feet. He placed the bottle on the kitchen counter and fished out a large bag of cheese puffs from the cupboard. After stuffing a handful into his mouth, he went over to the overflowing trash can, searching for a secure niche to stuff the bottle into. When he couldn't find one, he put it back on the counter and sat down once again.

"Okay, that's it," said Chandler, getting up. "We're taking out the trash. Come on."

"Can't you just do it? Whaddaya need me for?"

"We've got fifteen empty pizza boxes stacked in our living room, Joe. I'm kinda thinking this is a two-man job."

"Fine," Joey grumbled, setting aside the cheese puffs. He grabbed as many as he could carry and Chandler took the rest, along with the trash bag. After somehow managing two get two doors opened, they found themselves in the trash chute room and started shoving pizza boxes down the chute most unsuccessfully. After a good five minutes, the door opened and in stepped Monica with a trash bag of her own.

"Hey. What are you guys doing here?" She asked.

"Gee, Mon, _I don't know," _Chandler told her.

She rolled her eyes. "I mean, what's with all the pizza boxes?"

"Oh that. Well...they sort of...accumulated," Chandler replied. "Do you have any idea how to get these down?"

Before she could answer, they heard something shrill coming from somewhere. It sounded like a scream, but it was too loud and too clear to be coming from any of the apartments around them. It stopped just as suddenly as it started.

"W-what was that?" Asked Joey, audibly unsettled.

No one moved until Chandler spoke, "Look, I'm sure it was nothing. As I was saying..."

"The only way I know how to get pizza boxes cleanly down the chute is by cutting both sides in half," Monica told them, knowing full well how they'd respond.

Joey just looked at her. "We're not doing that."

"Well then I can't help you."

Without warning, the lights went out, and everyone fell silent once again. The same scream sounded again, only louder. One of the guys was squeezing the dear life out of Monica's hand, she wasn't sure which one. She was just about to mention something about a blackout when they heard a quick _BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM _coming from the trash chute, and before anyone could think they were all racing down the hallway (which was, in fact, still lit) and filing into their separate apartments without a solitary word to one another.


	2. Chapter 2

"You guys really aren't going to clean this place up at all?" Asked Monica. She had come over to Chandler and Joey's to ask a question, but had gotten distracted in the process.

"Nope," Chandler replied.

"But...government representatives are coming here. Don't you at least want your apartment to look...presentable?"

"Look, Monica, the way I see it," Chandler began, sitting on the counter, "is that these people spend their days busting down crack houses and peeking into the homes of schizophrenic murderers. By comparison, this place looks like...well, your place."

Joey finally came out of the bathroom and Monica was able to ask, "Hey Joey, what time did the FBI agent say he'd be here to talk to us?"

"Um...he said about noon."

"Noon? Okay. That'll give me enough time to make cookies. See you guys later," said Monica, and with that she went back across the hall.

"The FBI guy sounded really cool on the phone," Joey continued. "Like 007, but not British. And he has a really cool name, too."

"What is it?"

"_Fox Mulder."_

"Wow. That is pretty cool."

"I know. He also said he's bringing his partner. I'll bet he's really slick too. What do you suppose his name is?"

"I don't know. Bobcat...Smolder?" Chandler chuckled at his own joke in spite of himself.

"I got it! Wolf Brennan."

"What's with all the furry animal names?"

Before he could answer, the _Baywatch_ timer went off.

* * *

About an hour later, Joey was just about to fall asleep when the intercom buzzer sounded. Chandler got up and answered it, "Uh, yeah?"

_"Hello, this is Fox Mulder from the FBI. Is this Chandler Bing or Joey Tribbiani?"  
_

"Um, yes it is. Come on in." Chandler buzzed in the agents and told Joey to get up from his chair.

* * *

"I gotta go to work," said Rachel to Monica, who was arranging her freshly baked cookies on a plate in the kitchen.

"Okay. See you later, Rach."

Rachel opened the door, and then closed it rapidly. She was smiling. "Monica, come here."

"What is it?"

"There is a very, _very_ attractive man in the hallway."

"Really? Let me see." Monica opened the door softly and saw the man. He had his back to her, but she didn't need to see much more to know that Rachel was right.

He was standing in the doorway across the hall and Monica heard, "I'm Joey, and this is my roommate Chandler..."

"That's the FBI agent," said Monica, closing the door again.

"So he's gonna be here? Oh, that's perfect! You can ask him out to lunch."

Monica forced a chuckle, doing her best to look amused. "Why don't...why don't _you_ ask him out?"

"Okay, number one, I'm dating your brother, number two, I'm supposed to be at the coffee house, like, right now. Come on, sweetie, you've tried everything to get over Richard except going out with another guy, and I think that might be the solution."

"But...he's an FBI agent."

"What, and that means he can't date?"

"You don't think it would be a little inappropriate?"

"No, it'll be fine. Come on, promise you'll do this for me, okay?"

Monica crossed her arms and sighed. "Okay."

"Thank you."

And Rachel left, leaving Monica to wait alone.

* * *

"So, uh, tell us again why you've come to talk to us?" said Chandler.

"I mean, we know somebody died," Joey began, "we're just not sure how we fit into any of this."

"Last week a woman named Annie Chase on the third floor died falling down the trash chute," the unbelievably suave Agent Mulder told them. "Her slippers and trash bag were found at the door about eight feet away from the chute, which probably means that she was lifted off her feet and thrown in. No indication of any other person being in the room with her were found. We've got no leads, and we were told by the police that you and your friend Miss Geller heard something about the same time the murder took place."

"Would you mind telling us what exactly you witnessed?" Asked Mulder's partner, Agent Scully (a woman, whodathunkit? A hot one, at that).

Joey and Chandler described their experience the best they could with sudden interruptions and interjections. When they had finished, Mulder said, "So...you guys heard two screams?"

"Yeah. One before the lights went out, one after," Joey answered.

"Regarding the lights, are you sure no one accidentally leaned on the switch?" Asked Agent Scully.

"None of us were anywhere near the switch."

"Back to the screams," said Mulder, "did they sound the same, or different?"

"Different," said Chandler. "Or the same. I don't remember. Uh...do these things really matter?"

"They could," said Agent Mulder. "What you're describing sounds like the work of a poltergeist. Or a ghost, I haven't decided which just yet."

"Just what kind of an FBI agent are you?" Asked Chandler.

"Agent Scully and I work in the X-Files division of the FBI. We specialize in paranormal activity."

"Oh. So you mean this might be the work of a guy with a rusty hook for a hand screaming his dead lover's name?"

"Don't jinx it, Chandler, that could happen!" Said Joey.

"Agent Mulder is not saying that, Mr. Bing," said Scully.

"She's right," said Mulder. "I'm talking about negative forces from the realm of the dead here in the human world. There have been hundreds of reported cases throughout the years."

"Well, tell us how all that works out," Chandler said. "Are you guys going to be here again?"

"I don't know," said Agent Mulder. "But call us if anything happens you're suspicious of."

"Yeah, uh, will do," Chandler replied.

"Bye, Agent Scully," said Joey, smiling and waving in the usual flirtatious fashion. She gave a dull wave and left with Mulder.

* * *

Monica responded with lightning speed to the knock on her door. There stood the tall, dark, and handsome agent alongside a short, red-headed woman she had failed to notice earlier. She really hoped things wouldn't be awkward with her here...well, even if it would be, there wasn't much she could do about it, she had promised Rachel...

"Are you Monica Geller?" Asked the man.

"Yes, come in. Can I get you anything?"

Both said no thank you. "Oh, but I, uh, made cookies."

"All right, well, if you made them..." said the man, smiling and taking two from the serving plate. "Listen, I'm Agent Mulder with the FBI, and this is Agent Scully. What can you tell us about last Saturday evening?"

Monica sat down at the kitchen table and invited the agents to do the same. They did, and she began, explaining what had occurred in the detail the guys' version had lacked. "I thought maybe the whole building had lost power for a minute, but it turns out the lights had went out in just that room," she finished.

"Uh, Miss Geller, could you by any chance tell me whether or not the two screams you heard were the same or a little different?" Asked Agent Mulder.

"They were...the same. And what's weird is that it was louder the second time, and...it sounded a lot like it was coming from the chute, which I guess would make sense if that poor woman fell down it. Why do you ask?"

Mulder explained his theory.

"Oh...wow," was her response. "Do you think stuff like that really exists?"

"I've seen too much not to believe," said Mulder. The way he said it made Monica melt inside.

"Thank you for your time," said Agent Scully. "Please contact us if you think of anything else." She handed Monica a business card and got up from the table.

Monica felt a rush of nerves as she rose and pushed her chair in. It had to be now. "Um...Agent Mulder?"

"Yeah?"

"There's a great coffee place just downstairs from here, and I was wondering if you'd like to go get a cup of coffee with me...sometime today?" The words felt like thick, regrettable concrete coming out of her mouth.

Agent Scully crossed her arms and pursed her lips as if waiting for Mulder to say no. He smiled. "Listen, Miss Geller, that's a great offer, but Agent Scully and I have to get back to D.C. tonight..."

She smiled, trying to make it look genuine. "Of course. Bye."

They left, and Monica pulled the cookies closer to her and got out the good ice cream. She'd been needing it a lot lately, and it was going to be a long afternoon.


	3. Chapter 3

"_Well,_ Mulder..." Scully began as they exited apartment 20, a slight smile on her face.

"_Well,_ Scully," echoed Mulder, "did you think me getting asked out was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence?"

"No, I'm not surprised," she said. They began to descend the main stairwell.

"Would you have been surprised if I had said yes?"

Scully let the question hang. "By the way, was there a point to all of your questions about the screaming?"

"Ghosts have been known to repeat and mimic sounds. If the two screams sounded the same, that was probably the cause."

"Mulder, don't all recordings sound the same as well when played back to back?"

"Yes, but according to our informants, both were at different levels of volume."

Scully crossed her arms. "I don't see why that matters. Mulder, I'm fairly convinced that these people's claims aren't anything but a big joke. You heard the way those two guys were talking, they barely knew what they were saying!" Her shoes made a _clack, clack_ noise as they finally reached the ground floor.

"Yes, but what about Miss Geller? Her side of the story was almost the same as theirs, and she knew exactly what she was talking about."

"All right, well in that case, a prank could have easily been played on the three of them."

"Scully, I just find the fact that all of this was going on at the same time as Annie Chase's murder too hard to ignore." They were outside now, the freezing New York air whistling around them. Mulder was leading them in the opposite direction of where they had parked.

"Mulder, where are we going?"

"I'm going back to where the body was found."

"Why?"

"I just wanna see something. They're packing up the crime scene later today and I wanna get one last look."

They went around to the alley behind the building and found the large, green dumpster the chute emptied into. It was currently empty. The building's tenants had been directed to take their garbage elsewhere for the time being.

"I don't get it. What do you want to see here that we haven't already seen?" Asked Scully.

"Look, don't you find it odd that the dumpster was empty? According to the police, the garbage truck comes on Mondays and Thursdays, and the murder took place on Saturday. How could there have been nothing in the dumpster, Scully? If there had been something in it, there might have been hope for Annie Chase."

"I'm assuming the killer made a few calls."

"Why go through all the trouble? This is such a strange and messy way to kill someone..."

"People kill in strange ways all the time, you know that. It's likely that whoever did this was trying to be original. Mulder, have you ever heard of a trash chute-related death before?"

Mulder sighed. "Come on. Let's go get some lunch before we have to head back."

* * *

"Well, I'm never taking the trash out again," said Joey after the agents had left. He went and sat down in his chair once more.

"Why not?" Chandler asked.

"Didn't you hear what Mulder was saying? The trash chute is haunted!"

"It is not haunted. Look, that guy...was crazy or something."

"He had a badge!"

"So what? That doesn't mean he has all the answers or is always right!"

"I didn't tell you this before, but...when I was over at Ross' place the other day, he had the Discovery Channel on, and there was this whole thing about the government and covering up a whole bunch of really crazy stuff like aliens and ghosts, just like Agent Mulder was talking about!"

"Joe, none of that's true. Now relax, okay? If anything you should be worried about the crazy maniac killer on the loose who throws people down garbage chutes."

"You're not helping here!"

* * *

_"No please, please, stop!"_

_Phoebe wasn't quite sure where she was, but it was someplace dark and windy. Had she taken a walk and gotten lost? And who did that voice belong to?  
_  
_"Stop! Stop! Help me!"_

_"Hello?" Phoebe called in reply. "Hello, where are you?"_

_"Let go of me! Help, someone help me, please!"_

_"Well, that's helpful," muttered Phoebe. "Yeah, can you just...tell me where you are or...where I am, even?"_

_Suddenly, bricks slipped into view in the dark. She saw a fire escape climbing up the side of a building that looked a lot like the one her friends lived in. Softly, she heard her footsteps against concrete. The same voice let out a scream like she had never heard, and suddenly it was so close._

_A dull thud clunked against metal as a dumpster was pulled into Phoebe's line of vision. It was far away now, and she began to run toward it. "Are you okay?" She yelled. "Are you..." Her voice trailed off as she looked inside. In the dark, she could make out a woman at the bottom of the empty dumpster, blood running out of her head, meshing with the tips of her orange hair._

Phoebe's eyes opened slowly as she pulled herself out of the dream that had been so horrifically real. She turned the light beside her bed on and soaked in its glow. Surely something like this had to mean something. It wasn't as much of a dream as it was a vision. She had seen the body of the woman with her own two eyes, or at least it seemed like it.

The worst of it was, she had seen her friends' apartment building, and this worried her. It felt like an omen, or a warning from somewhere beyond. She had to tell them. Although she would have preferred to tell them at that exact moment, it was just past three in the morning, and she didn't imagine any of them would be too happy to hear from her. So, knowing she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, she got up and decided maybe it was best to just write a song for the time being.


	4. Chapter 4

"Guys! Guys!" Phoebe yelled, running into Central Perk. Monica, Joey, and Chandler were there, as was Rachel, although she was currently waiting tables. "Guys, thank God. I've been trying to get a hold of you all day, but then you didn't answer your phones, NONE OF YOU ANSWERED YOUR PHONES, and then I had to go to work..." She sat down slowly.

"Pheebs, what's wrong?" Asked Joey.

"I had a vision last night in my sleep."

"You mean a dream?" said Chandler.

"No, not a dream. A vision." She explained it carefully, leaving nothing out. "I think it's a sign."

"Phoebe, do you remember saying that a woman in our building died last week? Well, we found out yesterday that she was thrown down the trash chute," explained Monica. "Do you think that could be..."

"Maybe, but the woman in my vision was in some kind of struggle. Did they ever catch the guy that threw that poor lady?"

"No, but they've got the FBI on it," said Chandler. "An agent came to talk to us yesterday. The weirdo thinks it's a ghost or something."

"A ghost? We have to call the FBI guy! Maybe that's what my vision is about! Did he give you guys his number?"

"Yes," said Monica. "I have it."

"We have to go call! Come on."

"I'm not sure if Monica's going to want to call him, Pheebs," Joey told her.

"Why not?"

"Because she asked him out and he said no," Chandler explained.

"Well then I'll do it," Phoebe told Monica.

"No, he...wouldn't know who you were. I suppose it's best if I call him."

"Then let's go!" She got up quickly and dragged Monica up with her.

* * *

"This is going to be so weird," said Monica, who held the card Agent Scully had given her in her hands. She was staring at the phone.

"Just do it. Do it really quick."

Monica took a deep breath and dialed quickly.

There came a one-word answer. _"Mulder."_

"Um, hi, it's Monica Geller, from, uh, New York."

"_Oh, hello Miss Geller."_

"Yeah, uh, my friend Phoebe thinks she may have some...information about the...killer."

"Oh, tell him I'm psychic!" Phoebe prompted.

"_What kind of information?" _Even now, Agent Mulder's deep voice made Monica's heart beat at an unprecedented rate.

"Phoebe is psychic, and last night she had a...a uh, vision. She said she saw a woman in the bottom of an empty dumpster with blood coming out of her, but she doesn't think it was the woman who died last week. She thinks it was a woman who got in some sort of violent...scuffle. Phoebe also knows about your theory, and she seems to think that it's true." Phoebe was nodding violently.

_"I see. Miss Geller, do you think you can give me your friend's number so that I can talk to her personally about this?"_

"Actually, she's right here," Monica quickly handed Phoebe the phone, then got up and went into the kitchen, deciding to make some hot chocolate for something to do.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Phoebe was saying, "we're totally dealing with a poltergeist here. Do you think that it's the force of that woman I saw in my vision?" There was a pause. "Oh great, because I do too."

As Monica heated up the milk over the stove, she tuned out Phoebe's chatter until she heard, "And about my friend Monica..."

She froze.

"...you really should call her, because she's really, really cute. I mean, you've seen her..."

Monica ran over and started waving her hands all over the place, mouthing _stop_ and_ no_ and doing everything in her power to stop her.

"You know, she's kind of compulsive, but she's nice, and I think you guys would..." There was another pause, and Monica began to bite her nails with anxiety. "Aww, that's nice!" Said Phoebe. "Okay, bye, Fox." She hung up the phone.

"Phoebe, why did you-?"

"He said he though you were nice."

Monica smiled. "He did?"

"Yeah. He said he liked you and to tell you that he's sorry you guys didn't get to go out for coffee."

"Really?" Monica squeaked. Her joy lasted right up until she realized her milk had gotten overheated.

* * *

As Mulder hung up the phone, Scully walked into the X-Files office. "You're still here this late, Mulder?"

"You're here too, Scully."

"My meeting ran late."

"Well, I was going to leave fifteen minutes ago, but I got a call from Monica Geller."

Scully gave a wry smile as she sat down. "Coffee girl?"

"One of her friends claims to be psychic and had a vision relating to Annie Chase's murder."

"What sort of vision?"

"She describes hearing a woman's screams and then seeing the same woman dead in the bottom of an empty dumpster. She's positive all of this took place outside of her friend's building."

"Do you believe her?"

"I don't think she's lying, and it would make a lot sense. In the morning I'm going to look over reported crimes in the area and see if any of them match up with what Phoebe's describing."

"All right, Mulder, but I think you're wasting your time. For all we know, this Phoebe person could have been the one who played the prank on those three and she's just making all of this up to go along with it."

"Scully, if this is a prank, she's going through a lot of trouble, not to mention the fact that an actual person died. I doubt someone like Phoebe would take advantage of that."

"Mulder, you spoke to her on the phone for a few minutes! You know nothing about her."

"Maybe. I think we're going to have to make another trip to New York soon."

"Why?"

"Because I want to do a little more investigating. I need to ask all of our witnesses a lot more questions and I'd prefer not to do it over the phone."

"I seriously doubt we could learn anything more from those people than we already have!"

"Scully, they're the only shot we have right now, so I'm going to keep trying until we've got something."


	5. Chapter 5

"Here you go, Joe," said Chandler, handing him a full, tied-off trash bag.

"Tell me why I have to do this again?" Whined Joey.

"Because I am not going to get stuck being the one taking out all of your trash because you're too afraid to. According to TV, the best way to get rid of your fears is to face them, and I have to say I agree."

"But...look, if you always take out the trash, I'll always...vacuum the carpet."

"We don't even own a vacuum. Go. It's not healthy for a grown man to be afraid of a haunted trash chute, especially based on something some know-nothing FBI agent said."

"Why are you so hung up on that guy?"

"What are you talking about?

"You're always saying stuff like that, that he's wrong and stupid and stuff."

"Well, that's because he is, and I...can't believe people like that work for our government. Would you just go already? I'm going to stand here until you march yourself and that trash down the hall."

There was silence until Joey exclaimed, "Okay, fine! And by the way, you're afraid of roaches!"

"That is a lie, and those things are ferocious hell demons that kill people!" Chandler followed him to the door and watched as Joey moved solemnly down the hall. He placed a hand on the door knob and turned slowly. Why was this so scary? He had been in two horror movies and had read _The Shining_ twelve times!

He shut the door behind him. "Just you and me, ghost," he spoke. "If you're there, I don't want to hurt you or disturb your...slumber...I just wanna put my trash in the chute and walk away with dignity! So, you don't have to...try anything..." He took a deep breath and took small steps toward the chute embracing the silence.

Then he heard something. Another scream, a scream as long and wide as the one they had all heard before. A voice then rose before him.

"_Joey."_

He gulped, then laughed nervously. "Chandler, is that you trying to freak me out? Rachel? Monica?"

"_Can you help me?"_

That didn't sound like anybody he knew. It sounded...deep and dark, sort of shrill...

"_JOEY." _The voice came louder now, and Joey dropped the trash bag. Flipping around, he ran for the door and tried to open it. It wouldn't budge.

"_Listen." _He breathed laboriously, trying to get the door open somehow. The voice was coming closer and closer. Suddenly, the lights went out again. Joey pressed himself up against the door, frozen in fear.

Then he saw a beam of light, like the moon, grow across the ceiling. It rose in an arc; then it flew to the ground, coming closer to Joey. He shook. Whatever this was, he didn't want it close to him.

But suddenly, out of the formless light, he saw two eyes, a hand. Long, flowing hair, lips, a nose. She was wearing modern day clothes, unlike the ghosts Joey had always imagined. _"I don't want to hurt you either,"_ she said. Her lips didn't move as she spoke. _"But keep her away."_

Joey blinked and the lights were on. Just as before, he was standing, trash bag in hand, in front of the chute. Terrified, he ran out of the room and down the hall, back into the safety of his apartment. He breathed heavily.

"Well, how'd it go?" Asked Chandler.

"I...I...saw something."

Chandler's face changed. "What did you see?"

"It—it was like a vision, just like Phoebe said—there was a scream, it said my name, and then there was like this...thing, this..."

"Silvery shadow?" Chandler finished.

"You saw it too?"

"Yeah...whenever we were there with Monica, I saw it. I just didn't say anything because it's crazy, and we probably saw nothing anyway!"

"That's way you hate Mulder so much! You know he's right! The chute is haunted! I knew he was right!"

"He is not right! Anyways, what else do you think you saw?"

Joey explained the rest of what happened, and Chandler asked, "She said, "Keep her away'?"

"Yeah. Who do you think she was talking about?"

"I don't know. You probably just imagined the whole thing. I'm sure we both did."

"How could we both imagine the same thing?"

"Because stuff happens, okay? Sometimes, weird stuff happens and no one knows why it happens, but it does not mean that there is a ghost in this building because ghosts don't exist! I'm going to bed."

"It's eleven in the morning, Chandler."

"Well, then I'm going back to bed. See you...later, I guess."

"Okay."

Chandler shut the door to his room and Joey was left standing all alone, wondering what in the world was going on.

* * *

"Hey, Scully," said Mulder as Scully strolled in, back from lunch. He was across the room from his usual location at his desk, staring at a computer screen. It looked like he was reading a newspaper article. "We're leaving for New York as soon as you're ready. There's been another murder."

"In the same building?"

"Yup. Another woman thrown right down the trash chute. Except this time she was on the top floor when it happened."

"That's unbelievable. And the NYPD still has no suspects?"

"Not a one." Mulder paused. "Scully, come look at this." He was smiling a smile of discovery.

"What?" Scully came over and looked at the computer screen with Mulder.

Mulder began to read aloud the title of an article, "'Woman Dead in Village Dumpster, No Suspects'. Sounds a lot like what we're dealing with, huh?"

"When's this article from?"

"Almost exactly ten years ago. Her name was Marina Suanders. She was twenty-nine."

"That was Annie Chase's age, wasn't it?"

"Annie Chase was twenty-eight, but our newest victim, Lauria Thompson, was twenty-nine."

"Do you think maybe it's the same killer?"

"I'm going to have to find out a lot more once we get to Manhattan, but I'm thinking at the very least that they're related. I'll be interested to find out where Marina Saunders' murder was in relation to the targeted building."

"You're thinking about Phoebe's vision."

"I am, but there's a lot more to this than that." He put on his coat, and Scully did the same. "Something really weird is going on here, Scully, and I mean that."

"Wow, Mulder. It's hard to disagree with something like that when it comes out of your mouth."

He smiled at her as he turned off the lights and locked the door behind him.


	6. Chapter 6

The crime scene was nearly void of police officers when Mulder and Scully finally arrived. After making the drive from DC, they had picked up Marina Saunders' file from the local police station and had found that her body had been placed in the very same dumpster involved in the recent murders, which had again been found empty save for the newest victim's body.

Mulder approached one of the last officers on the scene. "Um, excuse me, could I see a picture of the body?"

"Sure thing." He went back to his car and brought back five pictures. "I've never seen anything like this in the ten years I've been on the force. It's sick, it really is, killing these girls when their lives are just getting started."

"Well, we're doing all we can, sir," said Scully.

Mulder studied the pictures carefully for a moment, then handed them to Scully. "Hang on a minute," he said. He went back to the car and retrieved a picture of Marina Saunders post-mortem. Her red hair was fanned out behind her, lying perfectly on her back, arms bent by her side. Blood soaked her head and the area around it, almost like a halo. He took one of the pictures he had just received of Lauria Thompson and found that they looked identical.

"Scully, look at this."

"They're exactly the same, right down to the hair and everything. Why do you think someone would do that, Mulder?"

"I don't know, but I'll bet Annie Chase's body looked exactly the same."

"I would say someone's trying to recreate the same murder, after all, we've got victims of the same age group and gender, but...the first victim was killed in a completely different manner than the other two. Look at the similarities, Mulder, it's remarkable. This kind of detail..." Scully was still staring at the two photographs, amazed.

"Agent Mulder!"

Mulder and Scully turned around to see Joey Tribbiani approaching them quickly. "Hey, Agent Mulder, Agent Scully, what's going on? I was just walking past and I saw all the yellow tape. Did someone else die?"

"I'm afraid so," said Mulder.

"That's so weird, 'cause this morning something really freaky happened to me." Joey told the two agents what had happened near the chute earlier that day. "You remember my friend Chandler, right? Well, he said he saw the spooky shadow thing the first time, he just didn't say anything."

"When did all of this happen?" Mulder asked.

"It was...about eleven this morning, I think."

"That's about when the murder took place," said Scully.

"And...you said the ghost said something to you. Can you tell me what it said?" Mulder asked him.

"It told me to keep her away or something like that."

"Keep who away?"

"She didn't say."

Mulder paused. "What's wrong?" Asked Scully.

"I think I know who our next target is, Scully."

* * *

Rachel was watching a _Frasier_ re-run when she heard her intercom buzz. She got up and crossed the room, sighing, "Who is it?"

"Agents Mulder and Scully, FBI," came a man's voice.

"Oh...OH. Yeah, come in."

Rachel buzzed them in, then rushed to her room to change out of the sweatpants she had been wearing. She had just finished when the knock came, and she rushed over and opened the door. "Hello. We haven't met. I'm Rachel Green. Monica's roommate."

"Is she here?" Asked the female agent.

"Uh, no, she's working. What's going on? Is this about the ghost thing?"

"Yes," Scully said flatly.

"Well, come on in." Mulder and Scully did so, stepping into the exceedingly tidy apartment for the second time. "Sit down," said Rachel, taking her place on the couch. The agents followed orders again.

"Miss Green, do you know of any other women your age living in your building besides Annie Chase and Lauria Thompson?" Asked Mulder.

"No, but I don't even know those two. In this building I just know Monica and then Joey and Chandler across the hall. Why do you ask?"

"We think you and your roommate may be targets in a recent string of murders," Mulder said gently.

Rachel gasped. "Really? Oh my—what—did someone else get killed?"

"Yes. Both of the victims lived in the building and were your age."

"That's crazy! What do we do?"

"Well, so far the murders have only happened when the victims have gone to dispose of their trash..."

"Oh, well," Rachel smiled. "That shouldn't be a problem for me. I didn't even know there was a trash chute until Monica mentioned this whole thing."

Mulder shot Scully a glance. "Do you know when Miss Geller is going to be home?" Asked Scully.

"Not for awhile. She's working late tonight. But I'll tell her what you said."

"We'll be back tomorrow," said Mulder as he and Scully rose from the couch.

"Okay, thanks for telling us. Bye." Rachel locked up behind the agents and went to go change back into her sweatpants.

* * *

"Well, now we know who our target is," said Mulder.

"What do you mean?"

"It lines up with what Joey Tribbiani was saying. If Rachel Green never takes the trash out, any sort of apparition in the trash chute would only know Miss Geller."

"Mulder...are you really taking any stock in what that guy was saying?"

"Yes, Scully. It makes sense. It's the only thing that makes sense in this whole case. You yourself were commenting on the remarkable detail that was in the placement of the body alone." Mulder began going up the stairs instead of heading down. "I'm going up to see what the scene looks like in the chute room at the top floor."

The room was found like it had been found after Annie Chase's murder, with a garbage bag at a pair of shoes at the door. "Do you still have the pictures we were looking at earlier?" Mulder asked Scully.

She removed them from her coat pocket and gave them to him.

"No shoes on Marina Saunders' body either, Scully. Look at how the shoes were placed. Just like we saw before, it's like the victim was lifted right out of her shoes."

"That, or the shoes were placed like that after the murder took place. Have the shoes been fingerprinted?"

"I don't know. Tomorrow we'll get the case file for this one and for Annie Chase's too. I'm thinking tomorrow we should get a hotel here."

"Do you really think it's necessary?"

"I don't know about you, but I'm tired of making the trip," Scully noticed for the first time that Mulder sounded exhausted. "If we leave now we should make it back by 9:30."

"I'll drive," said Scully.


	7. Chapter 7

For what seemed like the thousandth time, Mulder and Scully climbed the steps up to Monica Geller's apartment and knocked on the door. Phoebe answered. "Hey Fox! Oh, guess what? Last night I wrote a song about you and how you fight crime."

Mulder smiled. "You'll have to play it for me some time." Scully looked officially weirded out. Phoebe nodded.

"Come in!" Called Monica. She was sitting at the table eating cereal. "Rachel told me you were coming." She rose and walked over to where they were standing.

"So, you're aware of the situation?" Said Scully.

"Yes, I am."

"We just stopped by to ask if you had any questions," Mulder told her.

"Are you sure we shouldn't stay somewhere else for a little while?"

"If you would feel more comfortable staying elsewhere, go ahead, but I don't think it's necessary. The victims so far have only been attacked while taking the trash out. You should be safe in your apartment. Just keep a look out," said Mulder.

"So...I can't take the trash out?" Asked Monica.

"Not until we find out what's going on."

"Okay. I can...do that."

"Great," he said, smiling at her a little bit.

Scully's eyes flitted from him to Monica and then back again. "Call us if you need anything," she interjected.

"Of course," said Monica. "Thank you."

As they turned around to leave, Phoebe said, "So, uh, Fox, you still think this is the work of a spirit, right?"

"That remains my theory, yes."

"Okay, great, because if you didn't my song would be, like, totally ruined."

"Goodbye, Miss Buffay," said Mulder, and he and Scully left.

* * *

"Ross, tell Joey ghosts aren't real," Chandler insisted. "He's been driving me crazy because he thinks he saw a ghost yesterday in the trash chute." He sat down on the Central Perk couch and Joey did the same.

"Chandler saw it too! He's just too chicken to admit it," said Joey.

"Well, either way, ghosts aren't real," said Ross, taking a sip of his tea. "They're figments of the imagination brought on by fear and anxiety. No scientist has ever been able to prove their existence."

"See," said Chandler. "See, Joey? Ross says they're not real, so they're not real."

"Well, I don't care about science. I know what I saw and you know it too!" Joey pushed.

"Of course, there are a few scientists who are big believers in that kind of stuff," Ross continued. "Actually, I heard the other day that there's an actual division of the FBI that..."

"Yeah, we know them! Agents Mulder and Scully, FBI!" Joey smiled.

"They're investigating the murders going on in our building," Chandler explained.

Rachel was strolling by and sat down on the arm of the chair Ross was sitting on. "Hey, sweetie. Um...listen, about what Chandler just said, there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Well, last night, the FBI agents stopped by, you know, for a visit, and they said...that Monica and I might be targets in the murders going on..."

"WHAT?" Boomed Ross.

"Look, it's no big deal! People are only getting killed when they take their trash out, so as long as we don't...do that..."

"You guys have to stay with me, then. I'm not letting my girlfriend and my sister stay where they could be-"

"Or you could stay with Chandler and me!" Said Joey. "I mean, I know it's in the same building, but we could protect you guys. We've got this really heavy frying pan..."

"That's very sweet, but look, I just talked to Monica on the phone, she said they stopped by this morning and that we didn't need to go anywhere as long as we stayed away from the trash chute."

"But that's...that's..." Ross stuttered.

"Look, we both feel safe!" Rachel said. "And we're going to be careful. Those two other girls didn't know what was going on, and we do. Come on, Ross, we're going to be fine."

"Okay, all right, but just know that I'm going to be calling your place every hour."

"Ross, please don't..."

* * *

"How're we doing, Scully?" Asked Mulder as he walked in to the pathologist's lab at a New York City police station. Scully had just autopsied the latest victim, and her covered body was still lying on the table.

"Cause of death is blunt force trauma. Everything else looked normal, Mulder; the only other thing I found was a glass cut on the sole of her foot."

Mulder had in hand the files of the three murder victims. He flipped through Marina Saunders' until he found a picture which showed a cut on the bottom of her foot as well. He gave it to Scully. "The police think her shoes came off in the struggle and she cut her foot on broken glass just before being hit on the back of a head repeatedly with a brick."

Scully gaped at the picture. She uncovered Lauria Thompson's foot and looked at the cut. "Unbelievable. Mulder, look at this. This picture isn't too precise, but I'd say that's a pretty good match." The cuts were exactly the same. Scully slowly opened the drawer holding Annie Chase's body and found the same.

"Are you any closer to believing this is a spirit, Scully? This has been known to happen. Souls come back from the dead and start doing to others exactly what was done to them, especially in the case of a murder like Marina Saunders'. You remember what the cop said yesterday, these women are in the prime of their lives and are far too young to die. This spirit could feel resentful about that and want to do precisely the same thing to people like her."

"I think a more plausible cause is a classic serial killer, Mulder. A man who got such a rush from killing the first time that he wants to do the same thing to his victims over and over again to get it back."

"Just yesterday you were saying that you didn't think that was the case, Scully, because the first one was different than the other two."

"I know, Mulder, but I don't see any other possibility."

"Then accept my solution. Do you know of any human capable of this type of detail?" Scully sighed as Mulder went on. "The two recent murders took place in the light of day. If someone really was trying to recreate this, it would have taken a long time and someone would have seen."

"There are ways. Countless murders have taken place in the light of day before. These murders look place in an alley, Mulder, there wouldn't have been many visitors."

At that moment, a forensic analyst entered the room. "Agent Scully? Lauria Thompson's shoes have been fingerprinted as you asked. All were the victims. Same goes for Annie Chase's slippers. Both chute handles were dusted but we weren't able to get anything. Whoever this guy is, he's extremely meticulous."

"Thank you," she told him as he left. "All of this arguing is getting us nowhere, Mulder. We've still got nothing."

"And I don't think we're going to find anything, Scully."

* * *

Chandler heard his slippers scoot across the floor as he walked over to the sink, got a small glass, and filled it with cool water. He drank it slowly as his eyes adjusted to the dark and he prepared to go back to the warmth of his bed.

He heard something, something like the sound of the door opening across the hall. It had been very faint, but his mind quickly flashed to what Rachel had said earlier about her and Monica...

Flipping on the light, he grabbed the big frying pan Joey had mentioned and opened the door. There, walking down the hallway, was Monica with a full trash bag.

"Monica! What in the name of—what-" He rushed over to her, frying pan still in hand and grabbed her arm before she could take another step. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing, silly?" She asked, smiling innocently.

"Um...it looks like you're about to get yourself killed."

"What are you talking about?" Monica was still smiling, and she crossed her arms in front of her chest playfully.

"I mean, you, in the dumpster, dead! Because you did the one thing the cute FBI agent said not to do!"

"Oh, that, well..." She still put up a cheerful face until finally Chandler's stare broke her. "Okay, I'm sorry! It's just...the trash was full, and Rachel put the bag by the door and said that we'd just ask you or Joey to take it in the morning. So I went to bed and I couldn't sleep...just the thought of it...sitting there...and I just thought, you know, what kind of murderer kills people in the middle of the night anyway?"

"Look, do I need to tie you to Joey's chair and stay up watching you all night? Because I'll do that."

"No, you don't."

"Okay, because I really, really don't want anything to happen to you..." He put a sleepy hand on her shoulder and she smiled.

"Thank you."

"Now, let me take this," he said, picking up the trash bag. "Stay right there."

Secretly, he got a firm grip on the frying pan before entering the trash room and disposing of it. He then went back to where Monica was standing. "All taken care of. Goodnight hug?" He suggested.

"Okay," she said, folding into his arms.

"Goodnight," he said, letting her go, "and, holy Moses, woman, next time, give the trash to us, even if it is three in the morning."

"Since when do you say stuff like 'Holy Moses'?"

"Since I became a Jew. See you at Hanukkah."

She smiled at him as he opened the door and went back to his apartment.


End file.
